A historic moment in time

Saying goodbye to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The Swaffield School community was deeply saddened when we heard the upsetting news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. After such a long reign and such continued and tremendous service to this country, it was hard to imagine life without her.

As a school family, we joined others in mourning the loss. In addition to remembering Her Majesty as a widely admired and respected national figurehead, we also recognised the tremendous sadness felt by the Queen’s own family which had lost a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Of course, we marked this very sad occasion in a number of quite formal ways: lowering our school flag, sharing a lovely photograph of Queen Elizabeth on our school website and school office screen throughout the period of national mourning and postponing a whole school event.

Some of our Swaffield community also took the time to show their respects by visiting Buckingham Palace and the flowers of remembrance in London’s Green Park. What a moving sight to see so many thoughtful messages and beautiful flowers spread out amongst the trees.

However, in addition to this more formal side, we felt it was also important for our school to share our feelings and help the children understand and deal with theirs. In a special assembly, led by V61 West Side Church, we had the opportunity to get together and were comforted by the ability to talk about how we and others were feeling and to reflect on the Queen’s great life of service. It was clear that, although everyone had different memories and responded to the news differently, it was important to us all to respect one another as we processed our thoughts and emotions. As children living in London, our pupils and staff felt the importance not only to the nation but also to the city that they call home.

We are all surrounded by images that remind us of Her Majesty: bright red postboxes with the insignia E II R; postage stamps; coins and banknotes; Buckingham Palace much of which will remain with us for some time but inevitably will change in time.

Our children had the opportunity to share their memories of the Queen and felt better having spoken about it and found out that others had similar emotions. One of our Year 6 children summed up his feelings:

“I’m really shocked. I think we all knew that, because the Queen was 96, it was going to happen but none of us expected it so soon. I’m really proud to have been able to see the Queen when I was part of the Platinum Jubilee Choir that sang for her. I’ll remember that forever – especially because she came onto the balcony at the end of the Jubilee Pageant.” ZDB – Year 6

One way we have found to deal with such emotions is to look at the positives. During our assembly, all the children joined together to sing the moving and beautiful Lanterns by Birds of Tokyo. Swaffield choir was very fortunate to have been selected to be part of the Platinum Jubilee Choir which sang at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on 5th June outside Buckingham Palace. The magnificent Kids’ Jubilee Choir sang a number of songs, including Lanterns to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth as part of this remarkable event. That’s why it is such a happy memory for the children who took part as well as Swaffield as a school. What better way to celebrate a wonderful life than with the sound of talented children singing.

One of the very happy memories which will stay with Swaffield Choir children forever is being on stage directly in front of Buckingham Palace, facing The Victoria Memorial– sadly the place for so many floral tributes and sadness this month. At the time, we were unsure whether we would be able to see the Queen as she had unfortunately had to cancel a number of Platinum Jubilee events. However, much to the children’s joy and excitement, Queen Elizabeth appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end of the pageant to share her enthusiasm for the celebration. There’s no doubt that when you’re not even 10 years old being part of such an occasion is something that will never be forgotten! Sharing such memories, a beautiful song, and time for reflection with their schoolmates has enabled the children to join together to remember Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

www.swaffield.wandsworth.sch.uk

TURN TO P58 to read about Dulwich College cadets at the funeral

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